Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies for Dogs

I don’t know exactly when Phoebe’s birthday is. I adopted her from a rescue group, which took in her litter from a high-kill shelter in another state, and no one knew the details of the puppies’ early life. While it’d be nice to know her actual birthday, I think the uncertainty of it just makes her adoptiversary that much more special and fun to celebrate! This week, we’re celebrating her second adoptiversary, and I hope you’ll bear with me as I get all sappy for a minute.

I know they say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but with Phoebe (then named Lambchop), I totally did: I knew I wanted to adopt her from the moment I saw her photo on Petfinder. And boy did I ever luck out! She is such a smart, sweet, and affectionate pup. Even when she’s sick and stuff is coming out both ends or when I’m mad because I have a drawer full of mismatched socks whose mates have been chewed and destroyed, her little fuzzy face just about melts my heart.

Given that Phoebe is practically part goat and will eat just about anything, I don’t often make homemade dog treats, but for special occasions I like to spoil her a bit. I made a dog-sized two-layer peanut butter carrot cake for her first adoptiversary. On her last birthday (or rather, the day we picked to observe her birthday), we had leftovers for dinner, but Phoebe had homemade tuna noodle casserole from a dog cookbook my brother and sister-in-law had gifted to me Phoebe. And in honor of her adoptiversary this week, I baked these peanut butter pumpkin cookies for her!

Funny story: I adapted the recipe from one intended for people and forgot to scale it down in light of the fact that there would only be one [small, 28-pound] consumer. Let’s just say, we have so many of these cookies in the freezer that Phoebe may still be enjoying them by her third adoptiversary. The amounts listed below are for half of what I made, but if you have a larger dog and want larger cookies, or if you want to share with your dog’s friends, feel free to double the recipe. Your dog certainly won’t complain!

In case you haven’t yet fulfilled your cuteness quota for today, I’ll leave you with this photo of 5-month-old Phoebe, lazing in a sunny field and munching on some dandelions:

Place the peanuts and oats in a food processor or blender. Pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

In a mixing bowl, mix together the pumpkin and peanut butter until smooth. Stir in the wheat germ and the ground peanut/oat mixture from the food processor.

Place the pitted dates in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add to the other ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined.

With your hands, roll the dough into balls (1-2 teaspoons each). Flatten gently with a fork, creating a crisscross imprint. Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes, or until firm and golden brown in color. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or freeze.

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Oh goodness, I absolutely LOVE this recipe! We have a puppy and I made her treats once before and it was so much fun. Somehow it feels better when you know exactly what you’re giving your dog in their treats! Definitely bookmarking this for future use 🙂 Happy Monday!

How serendipitous! And yes, I froze half the batch that I made. They’re a bit hard straight from the freezer, but if you let them thaw a bit or warm them up for a couple seconds in the microwave, they’re good to go!

Haha, you can if you’d like! I tried one, though, and I have to admit they’re not very flavorful by human standards – but then again, I omitted the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and salt from the original recipe. Thanks for stopping by!

(sorry for the late breaking comment on this post, but couldn’t help myself!)
My pup is about to celebrate his 10th birthday. On his last milestone (5th), we gave him some dog ice cream that we found in the frozen aisle of our grocery. Well, he loved it and the proceeded to get super sick everywhere. Fail. For his 10th, I think I’ll just make these! His favorite thing is peanut butter so he’ll definitely love them! Cheers!

Happy (early) birthday to your pup! I didn’t even know that dog ice cream was a thing, but after hearing your story, maaaybe I don’t need to find some for my dog, haha. Hopefully these cookies will be much easier on his tummy 🙂

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Hi there! I'm Mara, a semi-vegetarian home cook with a serious sweet tooth and a penchant for flavorful yet unfussy recipes. Originally from California, I'm currently living in Michigan for grad school. Read more...